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What looked like a laugher turned into anything but as the
United States managed to hold on and win the 2000 Curtis Cup
at Canton (England) Golf Club.
The U.S., which hadn't won on foreign soil since 1984, took
control on the first day when it rolled up a 7-2 lead. With
only nine points required to retain the Cup - the team in
possession of the Cup keeps it in the event of a 9-9 tie -
it was a virtual certainty that the Americans would win and
extend their lead in the series to 22-6-3. But Great Britain
and Ireland staged a furious, spirited rally on Sunday, winning
six of the nine matches to make the final 108 score closer
than the biennial competition actually was.
The United States team was led by Duke University junior
Beth Bauer and Stanford University senior Hilary Horneyer,
both of whom won three times. By teaming with Bauer to win
a firstday foursomes match, Carol Semple Thompson added to
two records she'd already owned: playing in her 11th Curtis
Cup and winning her 16th match.
In taking its 7-2 lead, the U.S. won two matches at Ganton's
difficult par-4 18th with bogeys. In the second of the morning
foursomes matches, Becky Brewerton's s approach was well left
and well short, and after GB&I needed two more strokes
just to reach the green, the U.S. team of Stephanie Keever,
a teammate of Homeyer at Stanford, and Angela Stanford managed
to escape with a 1-up win. Later that afternoon, with Robin
Weiss of West Palm Beach, Fla., and Fiona Brown all square,
Brown had a five-foot putt to halve the match but left it
six inches short, giving Weiss the victory despite a three-putt
bogey of her own.
Great Britain and Ireland's Sunday rally began early as it
took control of the first two foursomes matches. Brewerton
and Becky Hudson went 5 up after eight holes against Bauer
and Thompson, and Emma Duggleby and Suzanne O'Brien went 5
up after five against Keever and Stanford.
The U.S. regained a bit of momentum as Homeyer and Virginia
Derby Grimes broke away from an all-square match with wins
at three straight holes starting at the 15th. Their 3-and-1
victory was secured at the par-3 17th as Grimes nearly aced
the hole and Homeyer knocked in the four-foot birdie putt.
GB&I's comeback continued in the afternoon singles, but
Bauer never trailed in defeating Hudson at the closing hole
to give the U.S. its all-important ninth point, and Homeyer
added to the final margin of victory in the last match on
the course when she took the first two holes of the second
nine and went on to beat Brewerton, 3 and 2.
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